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PayPal is eBay-free to grow as a mobile wallet

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) is now an independent company free from eBay and squarely focused on growing as a digital payment platform.

"As the world's open, digital payments platform and most trusted and popular digital wallet, we are excited to celebrate our listing day and embark on our next chapter," said Dan Schulman, PayPal president and CEO. "Mobile technology is transforming payments, making it easier, safer and more affordable for people to move and manage their money than ever before.

As an independent company, we see a tremendous opportunity for PayPal to expand our role as a champion for consumers and partner to merchants, and to help shape the industry as money becomes digital at an increasingly rapid pace."

PayPal had 169 million users and processed 1.1 billion transactions in its second quarter. In 2014, PayPal processed $235 billion in total payment volume and generated more than $8 billion in revenues.

Last year, PayPal processed $46 billion in mobile payment volume.

But while consumers may be making payments through PayPal's mobile app or site, they have been slow to use the app at the point of sale. In spite of its impressive customer base of nearly 169 million users, it lags behind newcomer Apple Pay, Android Pay and Google Wallet. Already 45 percent of smartphone users using mobile payment apps—and that group is still very small—are using Apple Pay, according to payments company Ingenico Group.

View the full Ingenico Group infographic here.

PayPal is well positioned to grow now that's it's free of eBay's marketplace operations. Observers expect PayPal to grow its business through acquisitions, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Both Square and Stripe are considered targets.

"We are focused on leveraging our strengths to drive long-term growth for our company and shareholders. PayPal is unique. We have a singular focus on digital payments, deep commitment to customer service, a drive for innovation and a technology agnostic platform that creates value for our consumers and merchants online, in apps, and increasingly in stores," Schulman said.

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